Arenas scores just three points as Wizards remain winless on road

Arenas missed his first 10 shots and scored a season-low three
points as the Wizards endured their seventh straight road loss
with a 95-80 setback to the Memphis Grizzlies.

By falling to 0-7 away from home, Washington matched the 1986-87
club for the worst road start since the franchise moved east
from Chicago in 1963.

"Things are just not going our way right now on the road,"
Arenas said. "Last season we started off 5-1, then we hit the
road. Eventually you're going to catch your stride and get out
of it."

The Wizards lost four straight games away from home after
winning their first two road games in the 2005-06 campaign.

Hakim Warrick scored 18 points and former Wizard Chucky Atkins
added 15 for the Grizzlies, who won the third straight meeting
in the series.

Entering the contest as the NBA's fourth-leading scorer at 28.3
points per game, Arenas was ice cold, failing to score through
the first three quarters while also missing his first four free
throws as the Wizards continued to trail.

"I was just missing shots," Arenas said. "It was just one of
those nights. ... They come and go."

"He (Arenas) just missed shots," Atkins said. "It's hard to
defend a player like him. I don't know that it's anything we
did. He can shoot whenever he wants; it's just about trying to
make him miss. It's uncommon for him to miss the shots he
missed tonight."

Arenas finished 1-of-12 from the floor. His lone basket was a
dunk at the six-minute mark of the final period, drawing
Washington within 80-74.

"To hold him (Arenas) to three points you have to do two
things," Grizzlies coach Mike Fratello said. "One, the guy
playing him has to work his tail off for 48 minutes, and the
other thing is the other guys have to work and contribute as
well. You also have to take into account that you caught him on
a night when things would not fall for him."

After Arenas' dunk, the Wizards got no closer. Atkins answered
with a 3-pointer and Dahntay Jones, who scored 14 points, sank a
pair of foul shots for an 85-74 cushion with 5:16 left.

"I am real proud of our performance tonight," Fratello said.
"We defended for four quarters consistently. With what we did,
we were able to execute offensively."

Caron Butler had 22 points and 13 rebounds and DeShawn Stevenson
scored 14 points for Washington (4-8), which has lost three in
a row overall.

"We all have responsibilities," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said.
"My responsibility, my job, is to get us out of this. I've
got to find some other ways to win."